


when the sunrise looks like wildfire

by WelcomeToTheBadlands



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Protectiveness, Rey Needs A Hug, Single Parents, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:21:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23325409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WelcomeToTheBadlands/pseuds/WelcomeToTheBadlands
Summary: It's been three years.The apocalypse has ravaged everything and the dead roam the streets.Rey is losing hope. And then she meets Ben and his daughter.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 44
Kudos: 114





	1. Chapter 1

The apocalypse had started for Rey like any other day. Some of the other kids from the apartment complex who didn’t have anything to eat had knocked on her door, hungry as usual. Rey had never had a lot, but she had enough. Enough to buy some extra discount food down at the 99 Cent Store down the street and give away some extra food when someone needed something. She would do this whenever she had the chance, but to make it manageable she told them that once every two weeks they could come around and get what they could from her. Today it was a whole box of Eggo blueberry waffles for breakfast, and some bananas, as well as a few cans of soup for them to take home to their parents. She didn’t know that they were four hours away from an outbreak. 

When the dead started to walk the streets and the world turned upside down, she was there with them. Their group was six kids and one mother. They got out of the city, but at a cost. Their group turned into three children and Rey. They were all scared, but they trusted her, and she got them across the state line. All of them—alive. After that they moved to the woods. Rey didn’t sleep much. She couldn’t sleep when she knew that these kids needed protection. They walked miles and miles and miles, looking for some place to stay.

There was one kid that was about twelve that told her that she would take the other shift. Rey told her that she could take the one closer to morning, because that was when she would rest. It was when the hordes were least active, and the only time that she felt safe resting. When the kids would be okay. “If anything happens, you damn sure wake me up as fast as you can and if you have to, you run. Take the other two.” 

“What about you?” The girl would always ask, “you take care of us.” 

“I will be the distraction because I damn well would rather die knowing that you guys are going to live another day then you get hurt trying to save me, okay?” 

The little girl would nod, looking all sad. “Okay,” At some point, three months down the line all three of the kids started calling her mom. It brought tears to her eyes when they did it. But she didn’t object. She let them call her whatever they wanted to call her.

She loved them. 

She really did. 

Remembered all of their names, Ellie, Christopher, and Amy. 

Ellie was the oldest of the group. Her father used to fish a lot, so she was good at tying knots and could help Rey forage for food. Christopher was the middle one. His bright blue eyes were so shockingly beautiful that it was the first thing that anyone noticed about him. He liked to draw and he loved to read. Rey always tried to find light books for him when she went out looking for things. He would always babysit Amy when they had to go out. Amy was the youngest one. She didn’t really know how to understand what was going on. Christopher told Rey once that Amy was the sister of one of his best friends, but his best friend was dead and the two of them had nothing else to do but to drag her up to Rey’s, where he knew that both of them would be safe. 

Rey would die for them if she had to—and she was ready to. 

It was five months in when the military that was still left tried to push back and eliminate some of the dead in the streets in the city. 

That’s when the bad things started to happen. At first, it was just a fire. They had to move from the little shack of a log cabin that they had been using as shelter and closer to the river. They found another place to stay, further away from the city. None of the kids were dead but Christopher broke his arm. Rey had to look for something to splint his arm, because there was nothing else that she could do. He was in constant pain. She wished she could do more. She boiled water for them and made a cold compress for him, Ellie told Rey that she would look after him. Rey trusted her to do that, Ellie was a smart kid. 

Amy wasn’t sure what was going on, but she got really quiet. Stopped talking the way that she used to. Rey tried her best to always make sure that Amy was learning how to read. Even found some colored pencils for her to draw with. She told herself that she was going to find her a box of chalk every single time she went out, but she was never able to. 

One night, Ellie and Rey were both up, and Christopher and Amy were asleep. “You know what I miss?” Ellie whispered as the two of them talked. 

“What do you miss?” Rey asked her. 

“I miss ice cream,” She said. “I want ice cream.” 

“Oh, I get that.” Rey told him, “I wish that I knew how to make ice cream.” 

“We’d need a freezer,” Ellie sighed, “and milk.” 

“We’re more likely to find a cow for milk and not a freezer,” Rey sighed, “Maybe next time I can find some of those hostess cupcakes though, we can all have desert. Does that sound good?” 

“That sounds good,” She said, and then she yawned. 

“You should go to bed,” 

“But I want to stay up and talk to you,” She told her. 

“I know, I know. But it’s been a long day. It’s understandable that you would be tired. You’ve been lookin’ after Chris all day.” 

She nodded and started to walk to her mat, “Love you, mom.” 

“Love you, sweetie. Get some rest.” 

“I will,” She laid down. 

  
The next day, she wasn’t sure that things could get any kind of worse. Some of the military that tried to clear out the rest of the city was pushed back out, they started to get into groups, and go out into the woods. Sometimes, they would go passed Rey’s house. Then all the lights had to be killed and they had to stay low to the floor, make sure that no one would see them. “Why aren’t we asking them if we could go with them?” Chris asked her once. 

“I don’t trust people,” She said, “not with my life and not with yours. Plus, I haven’t seen one group with other kids in a while, they’re all just big guys with guns.” She was right not to trust them. A lot of those men that were coming back from the cities, bailing. They were traumatized by what they saw. Sometimes she would hear them at night. Hooting and hollering, getting drunk and being stupid. She’d see some of them on her runs too. When she went out. The stupidest ones died the quickest, she learned that really quick. 

Sometimes, she’d loot them for ammo or knives. Find a few useful things. Lighters, little baggies of food that she could bring back to her kids. She even found a few pain killers that she cut up and gave to Chris. Today was different. This time it was Amy, and not Chris. She wasn’t sure what happened exactly, but when Rey came back Ellie was screaming and crying that Chris and Amy had been taken by a group of guys and she didn’t know where they were. 

“Hey, hey. It’s going to be okay.” Rey told her. “I need you to calm down and tell me what happened. Okay. I don’t blame you, it’s not your fault. Just tell me what happened and where they went and I’ll get them back. I promise you,” So, after a minute of crying she stopped and she told her. A group had come back and raided whatever food they had, were looking for weapons. 

Everyone had to hide, but she hadn’t had time to hide in the same place as them. They took Amy and Chris and she was too scared to try and fight back. “Hey, it’s not your fault.” She said. “I’m glad that you didn’t fight back, okay? That means that I still have you and your safe.” 

“But—but—I was supposed to protect them,” 

“Honey, no. It was my fault. I was supposed to protect all of you, that’s my job. Your parents trusted me with that job,” 

“You were, you were getting us food and I—” 

“Hey, stop playing the blame game. It is not your fault. You need to stop crying right now, stop it.” And she did. She stopped crying. 

“I found you those cupcakes that you wanted,” She opened her pack and got the box out. “Now, I need you to come with me. We’re going to find you a place to hide and you’re going to take my gun and if anyone tries to hurt you, you’re going to shoot. Okay?” 

“Okay, what about you? I have an extra gun and a knife, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?” 

Rey told her she was sure. She tried to be as convincing as possible but the truth was, she wasn’t sure what was going to happen. That night, she found the camp where the kids had been taking, and at first she tried to be nice. She tried to tell them that they were her children and she wanted them back, but they told her no and pushed her away. Didn’t take her seriously. Told her only members of the camp got in. That night, Rey killed people for the first time. She had never had to do that before, but she had made a promise to those kids parents and the kids that she would protect them. She wasn’t just going to leave them like that. So, she broke into camp and got those kids. There were two people’s blood on her hands by the end of the night. 

Amy was the one that ended up going first. 

They found themselves in the thick of a horde as they were trying to make their way back to Ellie. They were stuck up in an RV on one of the highways, Amy was crying and Christopher was trying to tell her that she would be okay. That everything would be fine. But she was scared, more scared than she had ever looked in her life. 

Rey ended up crushing up a little bit of pain killer and putting it in a cup of water for her. She didn’t know what else to do. She slept through the rest of the night and woke up in the morning. The horde had only seemed to get bigger as they passed by, they had nothing to eat, they couldn’t do anything except stay there while they could. Rey just hoped to god that Ellie wasn’t out looking for them. 

It was on the third day that the horde seemed to finally be thinning out. She had heard Chris and Amy’s stomachs grumble too many times. “Hey,” She said, “I have an idea but I’m not sure that you’re going to like it.” 

“What is it?” Chris asked. 

“I think that we can make it through the horde,” 

“There’s a lot of them out there,” 

“I know.” She said. “But if we cover ourselves in them and move, we can act dead. Smell dead. Just go the opposite direction.” 

“A-are you sure that’ll work?” 

“Yeah,” Rey said, “I’m sure.” 

Amy looked up at her, “It’s scary out there.”

“I know,” Rey said, “but I need you to be real brave for me so I can help get you out.” 

“Okay,” Amy was braver than anything. 

She tried not to gag when Rey managed to get a rope and lure one on to the roof. Splitting it open and rubbing it’s guts on all three of them. “Chris, you hold Amy’s hand for dear life. Amy you hold onto him. She cut a bit of the length of rope and wrapped it around her hand, handing it to Chris. 

“Hold onto this, at a distance. Pretend to be dead. Pretend it’s a game. We’re all going to be okay.” She said. “I promise,” 

That was something she really couldn’t promise though. They got through the thickest part of the horde and Rey thought that everything was going to be okay when it started to rain. Her anxiety level peaked and her heart was beating so fast she thought it might burst. She readied her knife, ready to kill something if she had to. And she was going to have to. 

She wasn’t sure when the smell had worn off, or when they had started running, or how many of those things she had killed. All she remembered was screaming for Christopher and Amy, and all the sudden Christopher was there, and Amy wasn’t. She didn’t have time to grieve. She didn’t have time to look back and try and find her. That would’ve gotten Christopher killed. All she could do was pick him up and run. She ran so far that when she looked back, she didn’t see any sign of the horde whatsoever. And then she found the complex that she had left Ellie at.

“I let go of Amy’s hand,” Chris said. “I’m sorry.” 

“Hey, don’t be.” Rey told him. “She’ll be fine, she’s just lost. She’s just lost. It’s not your fault.” It took everything in her not to break down and cry. Because it was her fault that she hadn’t done more to help her. And now that little girl was dead because of her. She didn’t cry though. She waited until she could find Ellie and held the both of them in her arms for a bit. Told them that she would be in just the other room, using the bathroom. Ellie told her she would stay there with Chris. She didn’t ask her where Amy was. Rey wasn’t sure that she could handle that right now. 

When Rey went out of the room, she took off her flannel that had been covered in guts and went for the jacket that she had left here in case Ellie had gotten cold. Rey put it on and then bit into her arm, muffling her cries as she broke down. It was her fault. It was all her fault. 

It was three hours later that Ellie came over and said, “You okay, mom?” Rey had to pull herself up and tell her that she was fine. Even though her cheeks were stained with tears. 

“Yeah, sweetie. I’m fine.” 

“You don’t look fine,” 

“Don’t—not right now. I can’t do that right now,” She said. Ellie walked over to her, hugging her. 

“Come on, it’s been a long day. Why don’t we go to bed?” 

“Okay,” Rey said, “okay. Let’s go to bed.” 

They lasted for half a year before Christopher died. She wasn’t sure what it was. Some kind of fever. They didn’t have any medicine. Even if Rey looked and looked and looked. The fever got worse. She was pretty sure it was some kind of flu, and without the right medicine, she couldn’t protect him in the way that she wanted to. She would hold him every day but she told Ellie that he couldn’t get anywhere near him, because she didn’t want her getting sick too. Ellie reluctantly agreed. But she would talk to him from across the room and tell him stories, anything to keep him company. Rey found a river to wash her clothes in as frequently as possible. 

She couldn’t get sick either. Not when she had kids to take care of. The sickness took him a week later. 

Ellie cried a lot and Rey had to hold it together, told her to leave the room when she had to make sure he wouldn’t come back. The two of them left the next day and kept walking. They had been silent for days on end when Ellie finally asked her something. “Why did you always feed the kids in the apartment complex?” 

“What?” 

“I was thinking about that.” She said. “You were a waitress, right? You barely made enough to pay rent and yet you always gave what little you had to us. Why?” 

“Because,” Rey said, “I used to be in foster care. Bad home after bad home, I know what it’s like to not have enough to eat. I wanted to make sure that no one else felt that way.” If she had it her way, this would have never happened. They would still have their own parents and their friends and all of those children would be in school. 

“Did you ever go hungry for us?” 

“Would it make you feel better if I said no?” 

Ellie was silent for a minute, “Why?” 

“Because I’m used to it. Being hungry,” She said. “Have been for a long time. No one should have to go through it.” 

“I don’t think I’ve ever said thank you,” 

“You never had to,” Rey brought her close. “You never have to.” 

“But I want to,” She told her, “you took us in without ever really thinking about it. You sacrificed a lot for us. If you hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t be here.” Rey wasn’t sure what to say to that. “I don’t think I ever told you this, but my mother died of cancer,” The two of them kept walking, “my dad got real drunk a lot. Would never cook or anything. Just started—ignoring me. Whenever I would try to get his attention or do something with him, he would get violent. Hit me a lot. I tried to stay out as much as possible, but I didn’t really have a place to go. Except for your apartment. You always gave me a place to stay. Food to eat.” 

“You are so strong,” She said, “you always have been sweetheart.” She kissed the top of her head and they kept walking. 

“I just wanted to tell you thank you, for being there for me. For all of us. Everyone else would tell you the same thing. He would tell you the same thing.” There were tears in her eyes when she said that. “And so would Amy,” 

“You’re going to make me cry, kid.” 

“No, I don’t want that. Just want you to know. I love you,” 

“I love you too, kid.” 

  
It was just the two of them, for the longest time. Rey had stopped counting the days, she just enjoyed the time that she had with Ellie. She would try and find things for her to do, eventually found a thing of chalk crayons and the two of them would draw on the concrete grounds of the abandoned market that they were in. 

Ellie would draw whatever she could. At first it was city lines and her old home, but then that made her sad so she figured out how to draw every flower that she could. Rey would always praise her on her artistic ability. One time, she even drew her. She got frustrated on the first few tries, but on the fourth try she got it right. “Damn kid, how’d you get this good?” 

“I don’t know,” She shrugged. “Just been drawing ever since I was little,” 

“You’re still little,” 

“I am not, I am twelve.” 

“That’s something a child would say, oh my god.” 

“You’re mean,” 

“Just telling it like it is.” She shrugged. “You know I’m right,” 

“Maybe a little,” Ellie told her. Most of their days were like this for a little while longer. They saw no one and nothing. They didn’t go anywhere close to the highways to try and jack a car, they stayed as far away from the herds of those things as she could possibly hope. And for a while it was good. For a while, it was good. Rey thought to herself, in another life, she would have had a kid herself. But if she had, she wouldn’t have met this kid. She wouldn’t have her by her side, to protect, and she just thought that if things would have still gone to shit, she wouldn’t have done it any differently. Because Rey loved her to hell and back, and there was no other way around that. 

So, when she lost her, it was the thing that finally broke Rey. There were two hordes that hit them back to back. They ended up trying to cross the rickety bridge. Rey told her that she would go first so that if anything broke, she would be the one that went plunging into the river below. 

She wasn’t though. Some of the zombies started to follow her and Ellie across the bridge. “Uh, mom—they’re behind me.” Rey looked behind her and saw some of them starting to fall on the bridge. 

“Get in front of me,” She said. “Get in front of me now,” She took out her gun, knowing the sound could draw more but not caring very much. She shot one, two, three times. 

Too many of them piled up on the bridge, and the ropes snapped, giving way to both of them. Rey remembered plunging into the water. Rey was awake for a few moments, screaming Ellie’s name. She grabbed onto her at one point, the both of them grabbing purchase on a big boulder. The current was too strong. At one-point Ellie slipped and started being pulled away again, and then Rey didn’t see her head. Rey was screaming her head off. 

She didn’t hesitate to jump back in to try and save her. She had never been a strong swimmer, but she’d be damned if she didn’t try. She tried. 

The current knocked her into a rock and knocked her out. When she woke up, she was back on shore, she coughed and threw up and her head hurt more than anything in the world. “Oh god,” The first thing that came to her mind wasn’t the fact that she had her own dried blood on her. It was the fact that Ellie was gone. 

Time seemed to go by differently after that. Rey screamed and looked for her everywhere. She screamed until her voice went raw and she couldn’t scream. She walked so long that her feet began to bleed as she looked for her. She wasn’t sure just how long she had been trying to find her. She just knew was that was the reason she still went on, for the longest time. Eventually she gave up. She wasn’t sure when. They days seemed to bleed together, and Rey hadn’t talked to a living person in a while. She had no one who could help her. She ran up on another patch of dead there. That was how she got her sword. She cut up a walker and put it on a rope and that followed her. 

**__**

**Three Years Later**

Rey had been walking for miles. She had cut a clear path to her next point where she had stashed some food, and then she was going to move on. Rey had been running on autopilot for the longest time, and then she met Kaydel. She had been being chased by about five walkers and was about to be cornered by them. Rey was off to the side, staying quiet. She was masked by the smell of the one she always kept at arms-length. She shouldn’t help her. She would never do something as stupid as that, and yet she did. Because she had nothing on her and Rey had a sword, that was always sharp and ready. She sliced through two of them at once, and then the third. Kaydel got the fourth and fifth. With that, Rey turned around. “Hey,” 

Rey didn’t say anything, “Hey. Did you hear me?” Rey turned around and cocked her head to the side. She didn’t speak. “Are you mute?” Rey didn’t say anything. “I have a settlement to the south; you could come with me. As a thank you for saving my life,” Rey rolled her eyes and turned around, still walking. 

“Hey, lady. Lady? I’ll take that as a no,” The two of them parted ways then. 

It was four days before anything happened that forced Rey to go south. There was a small herd gathering, not so big that it would be groundbreakingly scary to be in the middle of it, but enough for her to start to have to walk. The crowd got thicker and thicker, to the point where if she stopped, she would have died. And then something happened and the walker she was using fell, and it wasn’t getting back up. She was pretty sure that it was too old. That it’s torn down, necrotic flesh and muscle couldn’t work the same way. 

She tore it apart and spread the guts on her and got moving. It was like instinct. She was pretty sure that she hadn’t eaten in nearly a week. There was a settlement. That’s what the girl had told her. There was a settlement. Rey had told herself that she wasn’t going to put her hands in the lives of other people a long time ago, but here she was now, as the sun came up and the fields of grass looked like they were ablaze with fire. She saw the settlement over the horizon, and she kept walking. 

She felt like she could collapse any minute, but something told her to keep pushing on. So she did. When she got to the gates, people were shooting. There was a little girl on the other side of the fence that screamed at someone to stop. “That one’s alive,” She said. “She’s alive,” That’s when a man came into view. They both looked into each other’s eyes as walkers came near. 

“Help me,” It was the most that Rey had spoken in a long time. “Please.” 


	2. what we used to be

The day that the outbreak started was like any other day. Ben couldn’t sleep, so he got up and poured himself some coffee, read a chapter of the book that he was reading, and went to work. Before the outbreak, Ben had been a park ranger. He hadn’t been particularly important or a coveted member of society. The only thing important about his life was his little girl. That was who he woke up for every day, and that’s why he went to work. The courts had given custody to the mother of his child, even though most everyone knew that she wasn’t deserving. Ben only got to see her on weekends, and usually that was whenever she deemed that she was ‘healthy’ enough to bring her to him. Nina would FaceTime him as often as possible though, and he could tell that that would annoy the shit out of her mother.

She FaceTimed him the minute the outbreak had started. She was about five hours away but whenever she called, Ben answered. “Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?” That was when he realized that she was hiding in a closet.

“Dad, have you looked at the news?” She asked.

“No, why?”

“There’s something weird going on. Mommy’s really upset.” That’s when Ben heard it. The faint sound of crying in the distance.

“Do you know what’s going on?”

He was trying to tune in to his radio and find the right frequency for the news. At the time, it wasn’t working. “No. I just heard somethin’ about people getting sick. And Mom said army men are coming into town.” That was when Ben knew something was wrong. He picked up his phone and went out the door, his patrol partner that stayed in the cabin with him when they were off-duty knew something was up.

“Ben?” Kaydel asked, “where are you going?”

“To my little girl,” He told her.

“And you’re just gonna leave your post like that?”

“She said that people were sick, her mom’s upset.” Nina was still on the phone.

“Dad, you’re coming here?”

“Yeah.” Ben said. “Why are you hiding?”

“You know how mom gets when she’s scared. I don’t like it. I locked my door and my closet.”

“Good.” He said. “Do you know anything else about the army men coming into town?”

“No,” She said.

“Okay,” He told her. “I’m gonna hang up but you need to call me if something bad happens. Don’t FaceTime, just call. Okay. Stay quiet.” There was this feeling of dread in his stomach as he said goodbye to his daughter and hung up the phone.

“What’s going on?” Kaydel asked him.

“There’s something going on in my hometown,” He told her, “my daughter’s in trouble.”

“If your daughter’s in trouble I want to go with.” Kaydel said firmly. “That little girl’s mother is a bitch but she’s like family.”

“Then both of us would be abandoning our post,”

“I know, but like you said. She’s in trouble. Let’s go.” Both Kaydel and him hopped in the car and started the five-hour journey to get to Nina’s mother’s house. He wasn’t sure exactly what he saw when the two of them started down this road. At first, there was traffic jams. But he sped and he went into medians to get around people. Then, he hit a pocket of road where there was nobody there. Kaydel was looking at her phone, telling him stories of people biting others. Of a disease.

There was supposedly sanctuary in the cities, but it was hard to get there. Then the signal stopped working. “Fuck,” Kaydel said, “sorry.”

“It’s okay,” He said, “it’s okay. We just need to get to my kid, that’s all. We get to my kid and then we could figure it out from there.” And then at some point, the car broke down. Ben cursed and felt like he was on the verge of a panic attack, but Kaydel and him ran two miles when finally, a girl picked them up in a van.

“What the hell are you two doing out here?” She said. “It’s not safe,”

“We’re park rangers and he needs to get back to his girl. She’s about an hour’s drive away from her, please.” Kaydel said.

“That’s an awful lot to ask for.”

“She’s six,” Ben told the woman, “and she’s scared. Please. You have to help us. Our car isn’t working and we don’t have anything else and I just need to find my girl—please.”

“Do you even know that she’s still alive?”

“What do you mean?”

“You really don’t know do you?” The girl said. “That disease. It’s killin’ people, and if people aren’t dying from the disease the military is going through the streets and shooting them. We have to get out of town.”

“She’s alive,”

“Are you sure?” She raised an eyebrow.

“I’m sure,” He lied. He had always been really bad at lying, but he needed to find his little kid right now.

“Okay, then.” The woman said. “We’ll go for her.” They started to turn around and go in the direction that Ben told her that they needed to go in, speeding just as fast as she could. They went so fast that they hadn’t asked what this woman’s name was. Still, she helped them get to Nina’s mother’s house and break in just in time to find her mother trying to break down the door to Nina’s bedroom. She turned her knife on Ben when she saw him.

“Bazine, you need to calm down.” She was shaking like a leaf.

“I need to calm down? Why the hell are you here?”

“Where’s Nina?”

“She is _my_ child. Not _yours._ Stay out of this. I’m doing her a mercy. She just needs to come out here, please. Nina, please. Listen to your mom.”

“Bazine, stop. This is not right—just stop. Whatever’s going on, we can fix it.”

“They’ll come for all of us. Say that we’re infected and shoot us down. The dead are rising, my baby girl doesn’t deserve to live in a world like that.”

“You don’t get to make that choice.” Ben said. His voice was low and calm, but he was starting to see red when Bazine came at him with a knife. Kaydel screamed and Ben grabbed her hair and pushed her into a wall. “Put the fucking knife down.” He told her. “Now!” She struggled for a minute, but Ben tightened his grip on her. She dropped the knife and Kaydel picked it up. “Now either you’re going to let me leave with my daughter or I am going to make this a whole lot less pleasant for you and you know that I will do anything to keep her alive—so you better take me at your word.”

She started crying and babbling and Ben had no choice but to knock her out. “Nina!” He shouted. “Nina! Come out.” She did when she heard her dad’s voice, screaming and crying and talking about how her mother tried to kill her. “I’m here,” He said. “I’m here.” After this, Ben packed some of the cans in the pantry and told Kaydel and the woman to take whatever of Bazine’s clothes that they needed. The other woman took the kitchen knives.

“Do you know if there’s guns here?” The woman asked.

“No,”

“Great. I’m gonna look around. Calm your kid down.”

“Sorry—I never got your name.”

“Right, sorry. It’s Rose.” Rose said. From there, the three of them went on. It wasn’t until two days later that Ben saw a walker for the first time. They were roaming the streets, and he knew that something was up when he saw it walk. All dead, ambling on and on like you saw in the movies. Nina didn’t scream when she saw it, but she was shaking like a leaf. Ben was the first out of the group to kill one of them. He didn’t ask questions, he couldn’t. Because if he did that was extra time that put him and his group in danger, but that night when it was Kaydel’s watch and they had all made camp, he hugged his daughter and cried himself to sleep.

“It’s going to be okay, Daddy.” She said. “It’ll be okay,” Ben didn’t want to tell her that there was no guarantee that it would be, because everything had gone to shit by now. Nina was strong though, she smiled at him and ran her tiny hand through his hair and told him that he just needed some rest, and even though he had been scared out of his mind and worried for his child, he did go to sleep, knowing that she was right there next to him.

He had good look with Rose and Kaydel getting stocked up and finding food, and for the first month of the outbreak, it was just the three of them living in a log cabin and eating what they could. And then the military surged through the area. Kaydel made the mistake of thinking that they would be able to help, but as soon as they saw her, they started shooting. They ran from the log cabin and lost most of their supplies in the meantime.

For weeks, they were able to get by in the car and siphon things before they ran across Poe. Poe was a mathematician and an engineer, he knew how to fix things, but he was also pretty good with a bow and arrow. He and Ben went hunting and started to get more food for everyone.

Ben had never been too good at killing. Or anything involving weapons or violence. Poe taught Ben some tracking and he mostly did that and fished when they needed that too. Nina had learned not to be picky about food. That was the highlight of their days for a long time.

It wasn’t until four months in when they found a better place. It was a small little farm that was out of the way, and that was they met Jannah and Lando. It just so happened that Lando had been a friend of his father and took them in willingly. There, Ben settled down enough to be able to teach Nina things, teach her how to read and write better and how to do math. She wanted to learn how to garden, and Jannah taught her how to do those things, and for a long-time things were good. Ben got comfortable. Too comfortable.

But nothing good ever lasted, and the fences of the farm weren’t strong enough to hold. Two hordes at once had blasted through the place. Lando stayed back and gave everyone a fighting chance to leave. Jannah didn’t talk for weeks after that.

Nina would tell her every day that everything was going to be okay. It wasn’t until another month later that they found another place. Then another group came through, a bunch of people that had gone cannibal, and that turned bad as well. During that time, Ben tried not to think about the atrocities that were committed. How he almost lost his daughter in the process. A lot of blood was spilled and he became the leader of the group. He called the shots.

That’s when they got to the prison.

It was weird, to call that place home. But they cleared out all the walkers and fortified what they could and they made do.

They learned how to make do.

They took in more people.

It was a community.

__

**_Three Years Later_ **

****

When Rey appeared at the gates, for a minute Ben debated just letting her be. But Nina had said, “Dad. She needs help,” She sounded urgent, like she was going to cry. Ben could understand why she was going to cry. This woman showed up at their doorstep covered in blood. It was starting to rain then, and Ben decided that he had to do something.

“Open the gates!” He shouted. One of the other members on watch opened the gates, and Rose and Kaydel came out with him, covering him while Rey stumbled towards them. He shot the walker behind her and she stumbled into his arms, fainting in the process.

“I got you,” He said. “I got you.” He dragged her behind the gates and when everyone was inside they closed them. It had been a long time since something like this happened.

“Ben,” Kaydel said, “that’s the woman. The woman who saved me.”

“This is the woman that saved you and then just left?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh,”

“Well, guess she started to regret not taking you up on your offer.”

“Probably.”

“Is she dead?” Nina asked.

“No.” He said. “We’re going to take her to the doctors. See if she’s okay. She’s just unconscious,”

__

“You’ve been sleeping for about two days.” Was the first thing that Ben said to the woman outside the gate as soon as she woke up. “Scared a lot of us. My people had me check for scratches and bites twice.” The woman was wide eyed and silent. Still gathering her bearings. “So, you saved one of my friends apparently. I guess that I should thank you for that.” Still nothing. “I know that you’re not mute,” Apparently she didn’t like to talk much though. “What’s your name?”

“Where am I?”

“You’re my guest. What’s your name?”

“Rey,” She said.

“Nice to meet you, Rey. You’re in the infirmary right now.” She looked around at the medicine, the sutures, the bed, the supplies. These guys had it good. A lot better than most. She tried to get up, but immediately grimaced and laid back down, closing her eyes in the process. “The doctor says you’re severely dehydrated and that you have a sprained ankle, you’ve been walking for a while. Haven’t you?”

“Why are you shouting?”

“I’m not,” He said, “but you’re sick.” He lowered his voice. “Did you have a group? Anyone we should be concerned about?”

Nothing.

“Where are you from?”

Nothing.

“Where’d you get your sword?”

Nothing.

“I’m tryin’ to help you.”

“Where are my shoes?”

“Your shoes are being repaired right now. They’ve been walked in a long time; the soles were almost disintegrated. How long have you been walking?”

“’Don’t know.” She was finally starting to talk more.

“Do you have a group?”

“Nope,”

“Did you ever have a group?”

“Yes. When this all started. They’re all dead. Nothing to worry about, if that concerns you so much.”

“How many walkers have you killed?”

“Too many to count,”

“How many people have you killed?”

Nothing.

“Rey, I need to know if you’re dangerous or not. The least you could do was answer my questions.”

“Will you leave me alone if I do that?”

“Yes,” The more Ben talked to her, the more he realized that she hadn’t talked to someone in a long time. Her voice was raspy from not being used. Had a slight mix of a British and a Southern accent to it. “How many people have you killed?”

“Five.” She said. “Fuck, do you even know how to whisper?”

“Why did you kill them?”

“Two of them had kidnapped people in my group. I had to in order to get them back, and I did. Three other people tried to kill me,”

“That’s fair,” He said, “why’d you help Kaydel? She offered you shelter afterwards, and you didn’t take it, why?”

“I don’t trust people,” Rey started, “but I’m not a shitty person. I did what I would have wanted someone else to do if I had been in that situation.”

“Fair enough,” Ben said. “Although I don’t think most other people would do that.”

“What did you say about leaving me alone if I answered your questions?”

“Right,” Ben said. “Sorry. I’ll check in on you later. We’ll bring you food.”

“Where’s my sword?”

“It’s in the armory, being kept safe. We’ll give it back to you when you’re in a fighting shape. But you’re not right now. Don’t worry, we’re not going to hurt you. Just gonna make sure that you’re okay.”

“I’m sure that’s what they all say,” She mumbled. She settled back into her bed and Ben watched as she fell asleep again.

“Well then,” He muttered, “that was that.”


	3. nina

The first time that Rey met Nina, she was still in the infirmary with a pounding headache. She wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep, but she got up and could actually manage to sit up without throwing up. And there she saw her. A little girl with wild, raven black hair sitting in a chair with a teddy bear in her arm staring at her. The two of them just locked eyes in silence for a minute before Rey said, “Who are you?”

“Nina,” The little girl said.

“Why are you in here?”

“I was gonna bring you some water,” She told her, “but then I thought that you had been sleeping for almost a billion years and I wanted to make sure that you were okay so I just waited for you to wake up to make sure.”

“A billion years?” She asked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s a long time,”

“Okay. Maybe it’s more like two days, but still. The most I’ve ever slept when I was really tired is ten hours.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah,” She said, “oh. Also, the water’s like—right next to you.” Rey looked at the shelf she was pointing to and the canteen sitting on it.

“Thank you.” She unscrewed it and drank gratefully. It didn’t take long before it was all gone.

“My dad said you were dehydrated,”

“Makes sense,”

“He said that’s really bad,”

“There’s worse things to be than dehydrated,” Nina was wide eyed and staring at her. There was so much innocence in her eyes. Rey wasn’t sure how that was still here in a world like this.

“So, what’s your name?” She asked.

“Rey.”

“That’s a pretty name, I’ve just been calling you sword lady.”

“Sword lady,” Rey snorted, wishing that she had another canteen of water. “That’s pretty accurate,” Rey jumped down off the bed and stumbled a little before stabilizing herself.

“Are you okay?”

“I will be,” She said, “just need to walk around a little bit. Stretch. I’ve been in bed for a while, like you said.”

“Oh,” Nina was silent for another minute before asking, “where did you get that sword?”

“Off a walker,” Rey shrugged, “but I had training before everything, so I know how to use it.”

“I wish I had a sword,”

“They’re pretty difficult to use, you’ll cut your hand off or poke your eye out if you’re not comfortable.”

“I guess you’re right,”

“How old are you, Nina?”

“Nine. You?”

“I think I’m twenty-six,” Rey said, “Not sure how much time has passed.”

“My dad said it’s been three years and two months,”

“Then I’m twenty-six.” She managed to make it around the bed barefoot before getting back in bed. All of her muscles still hurt, it was like now that she stopped, she realized how awful she felt. She groaned a little as she sank into the bed.

“Are you okay?” Nina asked again.

“I will be, ‘m just tired.”

“I’ll let you rest.” Nina scurried out of the room and suddenly Rey was alone again, falling asleep wondering what happened.

The next time that Rey woke up, Nina was back. She slipped in through the door, and something told Rey that she wasn’t supposed to be here. “What’re you doing here, kid?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you were okay,”

“You’re sweet.”

“You sleep a lot.”

“Happens when you don’t sleep enough,” She shrugged.

“What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleeping?”

“Three days,”

“Woah,”

“Yeah I know. Woah.”

“No wonder you’re tired,” Rey smirked a little as she sat up in her bed.

“What do you have with you?”

When Rey woke up, Ben was there. “You’re awake again. You sleep a lot, you know?” Rey stared at him as he set her boots down. “Here’s your shoes. You hungry?” She nodded and he raised an eyebrow, “Are you shy or something?”

“I don’t talk when nothing needs to be said,” She told him, “thank you for your hospitality.” She put her shoes on and got up, off the bed. “I can just get out of your hair and find food for myself.” She hated how raspy her voice sounded, but if she was being truthful, she hadn’t talked to anyone in a long time.

“We can spare some food,” Ben said. Rey grabbed her bag. “Let me get you some food,”

“Where’s my sword?”

“Let me grab you some food, then your sword and you can be on your way. Just calm down.” Usually she didn’t, especially when someone told her to calm down. But this time, she did. “Follow me,” He told her, and she did. Rey got to see more of the prison than she had before. It looked like they had done a good job cleaning what they could up. She was guessing that it once used to be full of walker guts and dead things, and now all the bedding was cleaned and so were the tables. People gave her odd glances that made her want to hide away in some hole somewhere. The first place they went was the cafeteria, and there Rey realized just how much they had. It wasn’t the most ever, but they had three stacks of a canned food and there was someone working on cutting up a pig. Ben took down four or five cans and gave them to her. She put them in her bag.

“I have some apples too, if you want.”

“Apples?”

“Yeah,” He said.

“How many?”

“We have a tree, I have about five or six.”

“I just want one,” Rey told him. He brought out the basket and gave her one and she bit into it gratefully. _These had been picked recently,_ she told herself. It was juicy and nice and nothing that she would expect to get at a place like this.

“You sure that you want to leave?” He asked her again. She didn’t look in his eyes, but she nodded again. “Suit yourself,” He told her. Ben took her to the armory, and she picked up her sword again, still sheathed, and fastened it around her belt.

“Thank you,” The both of them left the armory as he showed her the way out, but before they could even get there, Nina came running around the corner and out the door.

“Wait!” She shouted. Both of them turned around. “Are you leaving?”

“Nina, get back inside.” The little girl ignored him, turning her attention more towards Rey.

“Why are you leaving?” Rey couldn’t really say anything, she didn’t know what to say. “It’s dangerous out there, there’s a lot of walkers.”

“Nina, if she wants to leave, she’s going to leave.” It seemed like Ben had a problem with his daughter listening to him.

“You don’t have to go, though.” Nina said. Her eyes were wide, and her attention was still on Rey. “You don’t have to be alone. Everyone is safe here; you could be safe too.” Rey glanced at Ben, as if to ask, _is this your trick to get everyone to stay?_ Rey thought about saying no, about telling her that she was better off on her own and Nina was the same way. Because no place was really safe, not really. But there was something about the way she looked at her like she would be hurt if she left that made her sigh. It was long and deep and she looked out at the field surrounding the prison.

“Okay,” Rey said, “I’m not sayin’ that I’ll stay forever but I’ll stay for a little. If you’ll have me,” She turned to Ben. He shrugged.

“We have enough room; we’d be happy for you to join us.”

“Thanks,” Rey said, “maybe just for a little bit.”


	4. the beginning of something

Ben had no idea that Rey was going to stay. So, when Nina convinced her to stay, Ben had to pretend that he wasn’t surprised. He was, though. Especially because this woman didn’t seem like she was much for kids, but he couldn’t really gauge that properly because he didn’t hear more than two words from her the whole day. She only said, “Thank you,” When he let Rey pick a cell away from the others in the prison.

“We just cleared this block,” He said. She didn’t say anything. “You get first pick of whatever you want.” She picked a cell on the second floor, far away from the populated ones. It made Ben wonder if she actually wanted to be here at all. He didn’t say anything though, he knew better than that. “Dinner’s at nine,” He said, “and we have activities all day long. We can talk more later, about what you’re good at and what you want to do. I’ll leave you right now to sort things out and rest.” She nodded and Ben left again.

Kaydel was there to meet him in-between cell blocks when he left her, “So, how is she?”

“I don’t know,” Ben shrugged, “she’s barely said anything at all today.”

“Do you think she’s just shy?”

“I think so,” Ben nodded.

“Maybe I should go in there and—”

“No,” Ben told her, “I think you should wait. It’s better that way, you tend to come off a little strong and she’s been out there for a long time. We just need to give her time.”

“Okay,” Kaydel said, “the first person who talks to her should be Rose then. She’ll like Rose,”

“Yeah.” Ben said. “Hopefully,” With a sigh the two of them walked back into the main cell block, getting distracted by everything else that was going on that day. He didn’t see her at dinner, which was concerning, but then again there was other people there that had his attention including his daughter.

__

Rey got really good at not being seen. That was something that she had learned to do even before the apocalypse had happened. She got food and then went back to her cell and ate before sneaking down to the kitchen to clean her dishes off and go back to her cell, and there she slept. In the morning, she expected Ben to be the one to see, not Nina. She was at the edge of Rey’s cell, a teddy bear in her hands.

Rey wondered how someone so soft and innocent had survived for so long. She guessed that her father was just better at protecting people than Rey was. Maybe he was a better parent in general. “Hey,” She said, “what are you doing all the way over here?”

“I wanted to see you,” The little girl shrugged, “we didn’t see you at dinner yesterday and breakfast is about to happen. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine,” Rey said.

“My dad said that new people might just freak you out.”

“Maybe he’s a little right about that,” Rey shrugged, “just a little. I haven’t seen this many people in a long while, you know.”

“I know,” Nina said, “but we’re all nice. I think that you would really like it here.”

“Maybe I will,” Rey said, “I know for sure that I’ll try to like it here.”

“So, you’re not going to go, right?”

“I told you that I wasn’t,”

“You said that you would stay for a little bit, that’s not the same as not going.”

“What do you want me to tell you?” Rey asked.

“I want you to tell me the truth,” Nina insisted. Rey sighed, avoiding the wide eyes coming from the little girl. “Are you going or are you staying?”

“And what if the truth was that I don’t know?” Rey asked.

“Then, that’s the truth. And I’ll have to prove it to you, that you can stay, and you’ll be safe.” Nina said decisively, before Rey could protest, Nina was dragging her out of her cell and into the mess hall. Breakfast was being served. Rey wasn’t sure when the last time she smelled scrambled eggs were. Or bacon. “We also have vegan options if you want but not much. Just like—apple sauce and some oranges and stuff. We do try to ration the fruit out so it’s only one per person.”

“Thank you, kid.” Nina grinned.

“Sometimes we have pancakes, but we haven’t been able to find flour recently.”

“You miss pancakes?”

“And waffles,” Nina told her, “My daddy found a waffle maker on a run, but we haven’t been able to find flour and sugar’s always low.”

“Well, maybe waffles aren’t the best thing to use sugar on. You know where you’ve looked for flour?”

“No, I don’t do runs. That’s an adult thing and my dad said I’m not ready for that yet.” Something in Rey wanted to tell her that no one was ever ready until they were out there, but this wasn’t her kid, this wasn’t her problem. She moved to get a plate and put a piece of bacon and some scrambled eggs on her plate, and then a banana and she sat down away from everyone else.

She should have expected Nina to follow her, and she did, sitting down, right next to her with an apple and a piece of toast. “You don’t eat much for breakfast.”

“I haven’t eaten a lot in a while. But it looks like you don’t eat much for breakfast either.”

“Yeah,” Rey said, “I don’t.” Rey glanced around, trying to get a feel of the people. There were children here. Kids that were younger than the ones that she had gotten out of the city, and it was like they didn’t know that the world had already ended. Then Rey saw some of the adults staring her way and she looked away. Glaring back down at her food instead.

“So,” Nina began, “are you a Knight or something?”

“What?”

“Your sword, it looks like Excalibur.”

“You read a lot?”

“Yeah,”

“I should’ve guessed,” Rey sighed, “and no, I’m not a knight. But it would be cool if I was, wouldn’t it be?”

“Yeah,” Nina said, “I’ve never read a book about girl knights.”

“There has to be one out there,” Rey said, “maybe you’ll find it some day.”

“Maybe,” Nina nibbled at her toast and then put it back. “I don’t really like it that much,”

“Eat it,” Rey told her.

“But—”

“You know when I was out there, I didn’t have anything to eat, and I know the toast is dry, so it isn’t as good, but I think that you should eat it.” Nina looked up to her and then nodded.

“That makes sense,” She ate all of her breakfast. Rey sat there next to her and ate silently, then the two of them talked a little bit more. Rey found out that Nina liked reading, she liked coloring and she liked art but she could never find things to draw with. Rey never said anything about her life, she just let the child talk and it was good. And then one of the people there got up and approached the two of them.

“I’m going to go back,” Rey said, “talk to you later kid.”

“Talk to you later,” Nina looked confused, but she let her.

__

The next time she saw one of the Solos, it was almost noon and she was sharpening her sword. Ben was at her door, leaning on it with his hands in his pockets. She looked up at him and raised her eyebrow. “There’s a meeting in a few minutes,” Ben said, “and I’d like you to be a part of it. You don’t have to go, but I’d like you to.”

“Why?”

“Because, you’re part of the community now.”

“What’s it about?”

“Just general stuff, it’s boring honestly but you can get a feel for the people. So, will you be there?” Rey was quiet for a minute and then she nodded. Ben smiled then, “Good.” He said. “It’ll be in the mess hall, you know where that is right?”

“Yeah, I was there this morning.”

“Sorry that I missed you,” He said. “Well then—I guess that I’ll see you there.”

“Right,” Rey said, “see you there.”


	5. Chapter 5

Rey had always been the type of person to watch from the back when things were going on, check out her surroundings, and find out what was going on. She was an observer, but she was now even more than ever. She told herself that even if there was a lot of people around, she wasn’t going to flee _too_ early. She was always good at telling when she needed to leave a situation, but she hadn’t gotten that feeling yet.

The biggest red flag that she got is that everyone seemed to put way too much stock into this Ben Solo. Yes, he seemed like he knew what he was doing, but Rey thought that she knew what she was doing too. That didn’t mean that she actually did. A lot of these people didn’t know how to defend themselves, and that was a problem, especially if this place was going to be permanent.

That was a problem if Rey could already see herself getting attached to the little girl with dark, wide eyes, and wavy black hair who was staring at her from a corner. She smiled at Rey and waved; Rey smiled back.

It was about halfway through the meeting when Ben started to talk about runs and supplies, and that’s when Rey really started listening. “So,” Ben said, “we’re doing good on supplies right now, but I think that we should get stocked up on bedding, get more meds, just in case. Do an extra run, having a little extra food is always a good thing. So, do we have any volunteers for a run?”

No one answered. So, Rey, at the back of the group, who had just gotten there recently, raised her hand. Ben raised an eyebrow. “You want to go for a run,”

“Yeah,” Rey said.

“Who else wants to go with her?”

No one answered.

“It’s fine, I can do this by myself.”

“No,” Ben said, “it’s a two-person job. Is no one going to volunteer?” After one painful minute of silence he turned to Rose, “You’re in charge. I’ll be your second.” Rey bit her tongue and didn’t say anything.

She didn’t need this.

She really didn’t need this, but she guessed that it was something that she should have expected. The beginning was awkward, to say the least. Rey wasn’t the type of person to make fun conversation. She followed Ben to a car and the two of them got packed up with enough stuff for a couple days for the two of them, just in case something bad happened.

Nina stopped her father before the two of them got in the car, “Be careful daddy,” She told him. This was exactly why Rey didn’t want him coming. He had a kid, she shouldn’t have to be worried about someone else that had a child waiting for them.

“I will,” He said, “is there anything that you want me to look for?”

“Something to read,”

“Okay,” He said, “I will.” Nina waved shyly at Rey and Rey nodded before getting in the car. She had forgotten what it was like to ride in one, in all actuality. They had been driving for about thirty minutes in silence before Ben said something. “So,” He said, “we could take this time to get to know each other.”

Rey raised an eyebrow.

“Why did you volunteer when you’ve barely been here for a week?”

“Because,” Rey said, “I’m good at finding things, and no one else volunteering.”

“So, you wanted to prove yourself?”

“No,” Rey said, “I don’t need to prove myself, not to you, not to anyone. I’m just better at doing things. Didn’t want to sit around.”

“So, you wanted to be useful?”

“Sure,” She would do anything to stop talking right now. Ben however, seemed determined to get more out of her.

“So, what did you do before all this?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes,”

“What were you then?”

“I was a park ranger,” There was another round of silence between them before Rey said something.

“That explains a lot,”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He laughed.

“Nothing, I was just thinking you were either a Ranger or a policeman or something.”

“Okay then, now what about you?”

Silence.

Wow, this was uncomfortable.

“I was a waitress, and a grocer, and I walked dogs.”

“Wow, that’s a lot.”

“Yep.”

The car fell silent again, and Rey was glad she could just look out of the window and ignore everything that was going on at the moment.

“Why did you come with me?” Rey asked finally.

“It’s a rule,” He said, “everyone has to have backup, no matter how experienced you are, bad things happen. You need someone to have your back. That’s how I’ve survived and all of those people in there have survived, by having each other’s backs. That’s how we live,”

“That’s not how I survived,”

“You never had someone to watch your back,”

“Nope,” She said, “not even before this whole thing started.”

“Well I’m sorry about that,” He said, “but now that you’re going to be part of this community, that is going to change. And it would be a little bit easier for people to want to have your back if you got out there and talked to them,”

“I’m not good at talking to people,”

“I gathered,” Ben said, “You can start with me.”

Rey sighed, “You wouldn’t like me very much.”

“Oh, you don’t know that. My daughter seems to like you a lot, so—there’s a point in your favor.”

“Great,” Rey said.

“So do you like kids?”

“Stop the car up ahead,” Rey said, Ben was caught off guard by that. He usually drove a longer distance into the city, but Rey was intent on stopping at the outskirts of the town. He stopped and she nearly got out of the car while it was still rolling.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re going on a run, aren’t we?”

“We usually go a little further in the city,”

“Cars can get caught up,” Rey said, “especially when mowing down walkers. I’ll take my chances. Follow me if you feel like it,”

“God damn it,”


	6. Chapter 6

It takes a minute for Ben to catch up to Rey, she’s quick and nimble, and it’s been a hot minute since he’s done something like scaled the edge of a building to enter it, but he follows everything she does and they make it into an unmarked store building without harm. Rey is quick and methodical in everything that she does, and she doesn’t pay Ben any attention the whole time, which makes him suspect that she’s trying to say something, make a point to him. When she’s done, she starts going through the aisles. By the time he gets to her, Rey’s already filling one of the duffle bags with dented cans that are still full of food.

Once she’s done, she hands it to Ben and then keeps going without another word, it’s interesting watching her when she’s focused on a task. It’s quite clear that nothing’s going to stop her from getting it done. She’s also right when she said that she was very, very good at runs. She collects enough supplies for them for now and then gathers the extra stuff and hides it in a place where the both of them know where to hide it later, and they go back to the car and pack up.

They still have enough bags for more food, but it’s getting to be a little past lunch and Ben wants a place where they can hide out for the rest of the night. “Okay,” He told her, “you made your point. You’re good at your job, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going anywhere because I’m still here to help and I think that you understand that.”

Rey just stared at him, and then got back in the vehicle. Ben followed, not really knowing what to make of it. He got in the driver’s seat and started moving again, they drove slowly, closer to the middle of town. He could tell that Rey still looked uneasy, but he decided it was best to ignore it and show her that he did in fact, know what he was doing. Maybe then she would understand.

They found a place a little more into the city that was abandoned and out of the way, one where Ben had been many of times and knew where to park the car so that it was out of sight. Rey and him got into the building, and Ben locked the door. He could tell that Rey was still very alert, sweeping the perimeter for walkers. “I’ve been here before, you know.” He told her, “there’s not going to be walkers around here,”

“That’s not what I was looking for,” She told him.

“Then what are you looking for?”

“Humans are more of a problem than the walkers,” She said, “just wanted to make sure that no one else had gotten in here.”

“You don’t ever stop, do you?” Rey squinted, giving him a look before looking through the rest of the floor and finding out for herself that there was nobody else there and she could relax. It took a minute, but when Ben finally saw her muscles untense and her eyes soften, he knew that he felt something. He wasn’t sure what though. She sat down and so did he. “So,” He said, “are you always like this?”

“Like what?”

“Not talking much, always on your guard.” Ben said. “Because something tells me that that’s not your real personality.” Rey rolled her eyes.

“Why are you trying to figure me out?” She asked him.

“Because,” He said, “we have nothing else to do.”

“Fine,” Rey said, “if you must know, I didn’t always used to be like this, but I figured out that if you want to survive in this world, that’s what you have to be like. So, I adapted.” Something about that sentence was so sad to Ben, how this woman had never gotten to relax since the apocalypse had started.

“What was life for you before this?”

“Why does that matter?” She asked.

“I think that it absolutely matters,” Ben told her, “when the world goes back to the way it was. Everyone is going to have a role to play in that.”

“You’re definitely an idealist,” Rey said, “and I was a nobody, so—I guess if the world learns to put itself back together, that’s what I’ll go back to being.” Ben was going to tell her that he could obviously tell that she was a nobody, but she got up and found a place to lay down.

This was going to be a long run.

__

Rey wasn’t sure what to make of Ben. There was a lot of stuff that was telling her that this man was good, that she could trust him, but she couldn’t get over this overwhelming wariness that she had for him. Maybe it was the fact that he was so insistent on trying to learn more about her, and Rey didn’t want that. Maybe it was the fact that every time he did something risky to help on this run for supplies, Rey would remember the face of his little girl, Nina, and then she would feel bad that he was out here with her.

She hated that feeling of obligation, to look after someone else so that they didn’t get hurt. She barely even knew him. It wasn’t until the third day that they had gotten enough to go home with, and they started making their way out of the city as quietly as possible. “Thank you,” He said as they made it to the edge of the city, “for volunteering to do this.”

“Like I said,” Rey told him, “I’m good at it, so it’s not really a problem,”

“I know,” He replied, “but still. No one really knows you and you’re risking your neck to get them food and supplies when you don’t have to do that, that’s honorable.” Rey was watching the building pass by when he was saying this when she saw one that looked ridiculously intact that caught her eye.

It was a convenience store. She knew the brand; she had gone into one of them before to find chalk and other things to draw with. As well as books, “Can you stop over there?” Ben looked over.

“We already have all of the stuff that we need,”

“Yeah,” She said, “I know. Still. Can you stop there?”

He shrugged and pulled over next to the convenience store, and Rey got out. “Stay there,” She said. “I’ll only be a minute.” She knocked on the door and waited. Two walkers came to it. She waited one more minute before killing them and entering the store. Most of the food was pretty much picked over, but there was still some stuff there.

Nonessentials, things that kids would like. There were a few books, some crayons and paper. Rey got a stack of paper and two books, and then for good measure a box of colored chalk that still had a few good pieces in it and ran out of the store with it, putting them in the back of the car and then getting in.

Ben smiled, glancing at her. “What’s that?”

“Your kid said she liked to draw,” Rey said. Rey wasn’t sure whether she was annoyed by the stupid grin on his face or not, but she found herself staring at him as the two of them went back to the prison.

__

Ben had a hard time figuring Rey out, but it turned out the more time that he spent with her, the more that he knew that he liked her. She was methodical in what she did, but she was not uncaring. As evidenced by the books and stuff to draw. He saw the way in which her face had lit up when she saw the convenience store, and he knew that she was going in there for a specific reason. When he found out the reason was for his kid, something in that just made him so happy.

And that happiness didn’t stop when they got back home. Nina was there at the gate waiting for them, when Ben got out of the car, she ran up to him and gave him a hug. He could see that it took Rey by surprise that she also got a hug as soon as she got out of the car. “Oh,” She said, gingerly patting Nina on the back. “Hey, kid.”

“You’re back.” She said.

“Yeah,” Rey said, “I got you something. A few somethings actually,”

“What is it?”

Rey took the stuff that she got her out of the back seat and Nina nearly shrieked, “Oh my god, I love you so much. Thank you.” One thing that Nina always tried to do was carry everything by herself, even when it was clear that she needed help, and she did the same thing here.

Rey saw this and said, “Here. Why don’t I help you carry everything?” And grabbed some of the stuff from her. She turned to Ben and said, “I’ll be back to help you unpack, okay?”

“It’s fine,” He said, “I’ll get Rose and the others to help me.” Rey nodded and started following Nina up the hill and towards her cell. Rose was the first one to notice he was there.

“Where’s the sword lady?” she asked.

“She’s with Nina,” Ben said.

Rose raised an eyebrow, “You trust her with your kid already?”

“Yeah,” Ben said, “Rey’s trustworthy, I wouldn’t worry about her.” Rose started to help him unload.

“I won’t.” Rose told him. “It’s just that I literally know nothing about her.”

“I’d give her some time,” Ben said, “she’s shy. Really shy. But she’s reliable. Went out of the way to get Nina stuff to draw with,”

Rose smiled, “that’s cute. Well then, I guess that I won’t hold it against her that she hasn’t talked to anyone outside of you,”

“Yeah,” Ben said, “don’t do that. She’ll come around eventually.”

__

Rey forgot how much she missed taking care of kids, but when she and Nina had gone back to her cell and started setting things down, Rey remembered. Nina talked about how she had only seen chalk one other time in her life. “So what do you like to draw?” Rey asked her.

“Everything,” Nina said, “and anything. I’ll draw anything when I’m bored.”

“Well, I’m glad that you have a hobby. That’s really cool.”

“Thank you,” She said.

“I’m going to draw you later, but I want to read first.”

“You don’t have to do that,”

“I want to, though.”

“That’s sweet,” Rey said, “well I’m going to go for now, okay.”

“Okay,” Nina told her, “thank you for everything again.” She hopped up off of her bed and gave her a big hug, which was probably one of the hardest squeezes that Rey had ever had in her life. Rey grinned.

“Thank you,” She said.

She was going to try to talk to other people, but something stopped her, and she ended up turning around and going straight to her cell. These days, she had been feeling more tired than others. She laid down and tried to sleep, but she couldn’t. She kept thinking about the kids that she failed, of Ellie, of Christopher, and of Amy.

She felt scared of what would happen if she got closer to Nina, or Ben, or any of the other people here. The risk of getting to know them and then having them slip through her fingers was something that Rey was more than deathly afraid of.

Eventually, she did fall asleep, having those same last moments with Ellie play in her head over and over again until she woke up in the middle of the night, sweating. She got up, not wanting to be in that bed for much longer. She walked down the hall and into the next cell block, and then into the small mess hall where she ran right into Ben. He was sitting there by the candle light, drinking out of a canteen when he saw her. “Hey,” He said. “You okay?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” She admitted, “you?”

“Neither could I,” He said. Despite herself, Rey neared him and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

“It’s tea,” He said, “if you want some.”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Rey said. He passed her the canteen and she drank from it gratefully, and then gave it back to him.

“Are you okay?”

No.

“I’m fine, are you?”

“Yeah,” He said.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”

“Bad dreams,” He said, “couldn’t sleep so I just figured that I should get up and get an early day.”

“Early day?” Rey smirked, “it’s midnight.”

“I know,” Ben told her, “still.”

“What are you doing?”

Ben showed her the chart that he had with a chore list and everything, and the things that he had done. “Just scheduling the week,”

“I’m not on there,” Rey said.

“Do you want to be?” He asked.

“Yes,” She said.

“Okay then,” He said, “I’ll pencil you in. Just tell me what you want to do,”

“I’d prefer things where I don’t have to be around a lot of people,”

“I can manage that,” He told her, “but you do know that you are going to have to start talking to other people, right?”

“That sounds miserable,”

Rey smirked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ben said. “I know. But the people here—they are nice. If you got to know them, you might make friends.”

“I’m not really good at that,” Rey said, “but I’ll take your word for it.”

Ben passed back the tea and Rey took another sip. They were silent for another minute before Rey got up, “Well. I should uh—try to rest again. And so should you.”

“I will,” He told her, “thank you, Rey.”


	7. Chapter 7

Getting to know Rey was a process. It wasn’t difficult, per say, but a slow thing that took time to build. It had been three months since Rey had showed up at the prison, and things were going smoothly. She proved to be useful and helped without being asked. She was still extremely quiet, she barely talked to people, except for the kids that stayed there at the convoy, and most of all Nina, but she was opening up a little. It started with her and Rose going on a run together, Rose was understanding about how shy she was and stayed quiet for the most part, but when they had come back a few days later the both of them were talking and smiling and Rose had told Ben later that Rey had saved her life. “You were right about her,” Rose said, “she’s pretty cool. I like her.” Ben was relieved that she was starting to open up to others a bit more.

The next good thing to happen was her getting to know Kaydel, Ben wasn’t sure how they were going to get along at first, because to be honest Kaydel was loud and she could be a bit much, but Rey seemed to find her sense of humor funny and would laugh at her jokes and slowly, the two of them became friends as well. Ben knew that things were going to go good with her by then. She was there to stay.

What he was most grateful for was the fact that Rey was so kind to his daughter. It was weird, how quickly the two of them bonded, especially at the beginning when Rey and Ben had a bit of a surly introduction, but Rey was patient with her, listened when she talked and he even caught her reading to Nina one time. “Thank you,” He told her, “really.”

“It’s nothing,” Rey said, “really. Your daughter is sweet,”

“It’s something to me.” He said. “She really likes you,” Rey smiled and looked down at the ground.

“Yeah,” She said. The two of them paused and Rey mumbled something about going to finish her chores for the day and left. Nina came out of her room and looked up at him.

“You like her,” She said, “don’t you?”

“She’s really nice,” Ben said, “who wouldn’t?”

“Ooh, you should ask her on a date.”

“A date? What?”

“Kaydel told me that she was going to ask Rosie to date soon, because she really likes her. You should do that with Rey,”

“Rey’s a really good friend,” Ben said, “but I don’t think that that’s going to happen.” Nina eyed him suspiciously.

“Sure,” She said. “Whatever you say, dad.”

__

Rey had gotten comfortable here. That was something that she didn’t think was going to happen, but something told her that she couldn’t stay that way. It seemed that when she really liked something, when she wanted something, the world was determined to keep it away from her. So, she lay awake at night thinking about all of the bad things that could go down here. What was worse about it was she really liked the people here. She liked Kaydel and Rose and their funny antics, she liked the welcoming environment despite the fact that they were living in a prison, and she liked the way that for the most part people gave her her space.

And there was also, Nina who reminded her so much of the kids that used to call her mom. Rey laid in bed and worried what would happen if she got too close. She ended up getting up again, walking back out to the cafeteria. Ben was there again. “Hey,” He said, “are you okay?”

She must’ve not looked okay.

“I needed to stretch my legs,” She told him. “When’s the next run?”

“Next week,” He said. “Tuesday,”

“I’ll go then.” She said.

“Okay,” He said, “I’ll go with you then, too.”

Rey turned around, “Why?”

“What?”

“Why?” She asked. “You’re the leader,”

“Rose is pretty good in my absence, there’s really nothing to worry about on that front.” His eyes had this habit of piercing into Rey’s soul, and she had no idea how they did that, but it was frustrating none the less. “There’s something wrong, what is it?”

“You have a kid,” Rey said, “what happens if we’re on a run and you get bit?”

“Then I get bit,” He said, “if it’s on my arm or leg you cut it off and try to save me. If not you leave me there, that’s how life works.”

“You’d leave your kid without a dad?” Rey asked.

“Not voluntarily,” Ben said, how was he still so calm. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to be on a run with you one day, and something bad happens and I have to come home and tell a kid that she doesn’t have a parent anymore. That’s fucked up and I’ve done it before, and I don’t want to do it again.” Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Ben’s eyes widened; this was the first that he’s heard her say something about her past. “Fuck, I shouldn’t have told you that.” She laughed half-heartedly, more out of feeling awkward than anything else.

“Rey, while it’s really kind of you to worry about my wellbeing, I think you forget that I have also been doing this for three years. I’m still alive for a reason, you don’t have to worry about that,” She didn’t say anything. “Now are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Rey shut her mouth. She wasn’t going to talk about her past, not like this. She really didn’t want that. Ben waited, what seemed like eons. When he figured out that Rey wasn’t going to answer, he sighed tiredly. “You know I worry about people a lot,” He said, “it might not seem like it. But every day I think, _things have been going so good for us, something bad is bound to happen._ But I still have to get up in the morning and put on a smile and make sure everything is running, and that everyone is happy, especially my daughter. You want to know why?”

“Why?”

“Because if I spend life not doing things because I’m scared of what might happen, of when life will end, then I wouldn’t even be able to get out of bed.” Rey bit her lip, knowing that he was right but still hating it. “You don’t need to be scared for me,” He told her, she sighed and sat down across from him.

“I guess you’re right,”

“I am,” He said, “I’m smart like that.”

Rey rolled her eyes and Ben chuckled a little, “so smug.” She said.

“Habit of mine.” He told her. “It’s hard to get rid of.”

“I’m sure it is,” She told him, “well at least you’re charming.”

“You think I’m charming,”

“Don’t let that get to your head,”

“Oh, I most certainly am.”

Rey got up, “I’m going to go back to bed now,” She said.

“Okay then,” Ben told her, “goodnight Rey.”

“Goodnight, Ben. Try and get some sleep.”

“I will, no guarantees though.”

__

The days up to the run came and went pretty fast. Ben and Rey started packing supplies, and Nina was insistent on helping them. “Anything you want me to look for when we’re out?” Rey asked.

“You don’t have to,” Nina said, “but I’d like more stuff to read if you can find it.”

“Okay, kid.” Rey said, “I’ll do that.” Ben couldn’t help but smile when he saw his daughter hug her. Nina hugged him next and looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Be safe,”

Ben planted a kiss on her forehead, “I will, darling. Don’t worry.”

“Okay.” She said. Then they left.

The start of their runs always started out the same way, Rey was always quiet at the beginning, and once they settled in, she started to talk more. “How far into the city are we going this time?”

“Just a little bit more than before, why?”

“I just don’t think that going that far in is a good idea, crowds, easier to get stuck in a herd.” She told him.

“I know,” He said, “but we have cleared a route, so it should be okay.”

“I just have a bad feeling whenever we’re there,”

“Rey,”

“Yeah?”

“You worry too much,”

“Usually, my bad feelings are right.” She told him through gritted teeth.

“We’ll be extra careful,” He told her, “we’ll even cut it short and swing through one of the smaller towns on the way back, okay?” She nodded, seeming to be at ease after he said that.

After another moment, Ben asked another question, “So are you liking it? At the prison?”

Rey was quiet for a moment before she answered, “Yeah.” She said. “I really am.”

“That’s good.” He said. “I like having you there.”

Ben watched Rey smile, just a little. He decided that he liked that a lot.

There was a soft and understanding silence between the two of them for the longest time as they rode into the city. Maybe it was Rey’s apprehension, but today the vacant city looked more daunting than it usually was. The big concrete and steel monstrosities casting a shadow that made Ben’s heart race just a little. He told himself to get over it, and kept driving, but Rey told him to stop and he did. “What do you see?”

She rolled down the window and peeked her head out a little bit more, squinting, and Ben saw what she saw as well. A dark line on the horizon, closer to the middle of the city. There was a herd that was starting to come through again.

“Okay,” He said, “you’re right.” Rey rolled up her window and Ben promptly started to turn around.

“Fuck this, there’s a town about twenty miles from here. It’s a drive and the city is closer to the prison, but I think it’s necessary.”

“Yeah,” Rey said, “let’s go.” Ben started the car back up, and they set into motion.


	8. Chapter 8

Rey was the type of person who paced. Ben found that out pretty quickly as they locked up in an old restaurant front. She was walking back and forth and back and forth, even after the two of them had fortified all the entrances to make sure that they were okay. “Are you planning on wearing the floor down?” Ben asked her. Rey shot him a look. “What?”

“Nothing,” She sighed, continuing to pace.

“There’s something on your mind, so tell me what it is before you drive the both of us crazy.” She stopped in her tracks.

“I told you that it was better if I went on runs by myself,”

“And?” Ben shrugged. “What’s your point?”

“Listen to me and listen to me clearly when I say this,” Ben had never seen her this mad before, “if I die out there, one person is affected by that death. Me. If you die out there, you have a whole colony of people that will mourn your absence, you have a fucking daughter.” She was practically shaking. “If that horde comes our way, then we have a problem. We have no way to get out of here and then your daughter gets worried, if we get stuck out here long enough then there will be a search party, and more people would die.”

“Do you seriously think that your death doesn’t affect more people than just you?” Ben asked. He was dumbstruck with the stupidity of that sentence.

“I know that it doesn’t,” Rey told him, she seemed to be visibly deflating.

“Really? Do you really think that low of yourself?”

“Shut up,” Rey said.

“No that was a serious question,” Ben said, “do you seriously think that people wouldn’t be upset if you died? First of all if we’re thinking from your fucked up point of view, you losing all of the potential supplies that you would’ve gotten on your run after you died would affect the rest of the colony. Not just you. All of those people—out of food. Medicine. And clothes. Second of all, my daughter fucking cares about you. So that means it is in my interest to keep you safe,”

“I don’t need protecting,” Rey hissed, she was good at not raising her voice when she probably mad. Probably out of habit of not wanting to draw out walkers. “I am a grown ass woman.”

“And I am a grown ass man, with a kid.” Ben said. “I don’t need protecting either, yet you seem keen to keep pretending that it’s your fault if I die.”

Rey’s jaw worked as she grinded her teeth together, “You’re insufferable.”

“I’m right.” He said. Her eyes widened and she sighed, all of the tension in her shoulders was just gone.

“You’re annoying, that’s what you are.” She said. “And your daughter’s probably worried sick about you.”

“You don’t think I know that?” Ben asked, this time he was raising his voice. He wasn’t yelling, he was just making a point. “I know that,” He said, “and she’ll be fine because I’ll be coming back with you after we wait everything out. And by the way, I wasn’t done with what I was saying.” Rey blinked, obviously not wanting him to continue. He did anyway. “Do you really think that low of me to assume that I wouldn’t send a search party after you? Because I would, same thing happens if you die that you said happens to me. I would be affected by it. My daughter would be affected by it. Everyone else would be affected by it. That is the risk that we take every time that we come out here.”

He didn’t expect her to cry.

_

Rey told herself that she wasn’t going to show emotion in front of Ben. She had been determined not to do that. She didn’t like the vulnerability that was behind crying. She hated the fact that she was being vulnerable around him. “Hey,” Ben moved towards her and she took a step back. He didn’t try to get any closer to her. “Hey, I didn’t mean to make you cry, okay?” Rey didn’t say anything. Just wiped at her eyes.

She felt embarrassed.

“Hey, can you look at me? Please?” Eventually Rey met his eyes.

“I care about you,” He said, “a lot.” Rey wished she could say something mean like _I don’t care about you,_ or something like that. But honestly, she did. She did care about him. Ben was a good man, and you didn’t find a lot of people like that anymore. “You need to stop crying, it’ll make you sick.”

“I’m fine,” She told him, “I’m going to go see if there’s anything that we can use in the kitchen.”

“I can help you,”

“No thanks,” Rey said, “I can do this by myself,” She went into the back before Ben could protest.

__

The rest of the trip went by fine. Rey and Ben got all of their stuff together and made a decent run before they started to go back to the prison. Both Rey and Ben were silent on the way there, and Ben could’ve sworn that he could’ve heard a pin drop from miles away with the icy silence between the two of them. “You know,” He said, “if there’s something that’s bothering you, we could talk about it.” Rey looked out the window at the fields.

“The horde was headed in this direction.” Rey said. “The prison isn’t on the main road, but when they do make their way over, there will be stragglers. Which means a lot of walkers at the prison. We need to cut them off at the chase and redirect them,”

That wasn’t what Ben had been hoping before, but that was acceptable. “I’ll set up a team.”

“I want to be on it,”

“No,” Rey looked at him.

“I’m sorry,” She said, “but I’ve been out there since this whole thing started. I am as valuable, if not more than most of the people at that camp that have gotten used to not having to fight.”

“I’m just using your logic,”

“My logic?”

“Your logic that we not use people that no one would miss when they die. So I won’t go either, no one will. The team will be imaginary.”

“My fucking god,” Rey said, “what do you want to hear?”

“That I’m right,”

“Fine!” Rey shouted. “You’re right, you insufferable prick! I get it. I was wrong, I’m sorry for caring about your wellbeing.” She sat back in her seat and didn’t talk to him for the rest of the ride, even after he tried to talk to her twice and engage her in conversation. Her eyes were wet again and she didn’t meet his gaze and he just felt awful, especially after she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. She turned on her heel and stormed off, and Nina was right there.

__

Being alone was better.

It was easier.

She didn’t have to deal with stupidity. Rey didn’t have to care about people either, and that was the best outcome that she could hope for. She sat alone in her cell, thinking about how easy it would be to just disappear into the night. She could pretend like the prison never existed and she could pretend that she had never met Ben Solo.

She was so close to doing it too.

But she thought of Nina.

She thought of what Ben said. _My daughter cares about you._ And she couldn’t leave. So she put her bag back down and just laid down and shut her eyes, hoping for the day to be over.


	9. Chapter 9

Ben rarely ever felt like shit after getting in an argument with someone and being right, but now he did. Nina was silent for a bit as she read her book and Ben laid down on his cot. It was about an hour after Rey had stormed off and Ben was still trying to figure out what went wrong with the situation when Nina said, “What happened?”

“Rey and I had an argument,” Ben said. Nina was silent about it for a minute, and Ben hoped that she wouldn’t ask her any more about it but she did.

“What was it about?”

“Something adult,” Ben said, “I was right and I don’t think that she liked that.”

“She was crying,” Nina said.

“Yeah,” Ben didn’t know what to say.

“Were you mean to her?” Nina asked him.

“I don’t see how that matters,” Ben said. Nina raised an eyebrow.

“Really, Dad?”

“What?”

“Weren’t you the one that told me that it doesn’t matter what you say, but how you say it?” Ben sat there for a minute. A) because he didn’t think the day would come where his daughter would use his own words against him, B) because she was right and he really didn’t want to admit that. He did though because it was clear that she knew that she was right too.

“Yes,”

“Then obviously whatever you said, you didn’t say it to her very nicely. Rey’s not the person that would cry without reason and I think that you should apologize to her.”

“I would tell you to watch your attitude but I’m too tired and I hated when my parents said that to me,”

“You know I’m right,”

“I know you’re right,” Ben said.

“So are you going to apologize to her?”

“Yes, I just need to figure out what to say.”

“How about _I’m sorry that I was a butthead?”_ Ben audibly snorted and Nina giggled a little bit. “What? It would work.”

“I’ll think of something, kid. Don’t worry.”

__

Rey really didn’t want to talk to Ben when he approached her after she was coming back from doing her chores. But she could tell that there was something on his mind that was bothering him, and while he didn’t deserve Rey’s time, she slowed down when he asked her to and then stopped. “What do you want?” She asked him. She tried to act more annoyed than anything, but she was just hurt, and embarrassed at the way that everything went down.

“I need to talk to you,”

“We’re talking right now,”

“Yeah—uh—okay. I wanted to talk to you about the other day, I uh—I was kind of mean to you and I wanted to apologize about it. There were better ways to approach what I said and it wasn’t my finest hour and I’m sorry.” Rey raised an eyebrow at him. Part of her said that she should just accept it, it was a dick move but Ben was sorry, and that was the most important part.

Unfortunately, it was the more petty part that won over, “Okay.” She started walking again.

“Okay?” Ben was walking right next to her.

“Yeah, okay.”

“I’m sorry but—what?”

“What?” Rey asked. “Are you expecting me to say that I forgive you?”

“I—”

“You humiliated me for no reason,”

“I didn’t mean—”

“I don’t care what you meant; you still did.”

“Rey—”

“We’re not going to have this fight in public,” Rey told him, her tone hushed, and then she rushed back into the prison, not looking back to see if Ben followed. It was a few hours of silence and sharpening her sword before Ben came by and knocked on her door. Rey didn’t even bother greeting him this time.

“Hey,” He said. Rey just stared at him. “Can I come in?”

“Something tells me that you’re going to anyway, so why not?”

“I won’t come in unless you want me to, Rey.”

Rey rolled her eyes, “Come in then.”

That’s when Ben did. He looked around the room and said, “You haven’t really decorated or anything.”

“Why would I?” She continued sharpening her sword and let Ben squirm. There was no extra place to sent so he leaned on the wall. Ben didn’t ask her if they could talk, he just stayed there for a minute before he started to talk.

“I’m sorry for humiliating you and acting like a dick,” He looked down at her and she looked up from her bed, “I shouldn’t have talked to you that way and I really really regret it.” Rey didn’t say anything for a minute, because what was she supposed to say really? “My point still stands about caring about you,” He had something in his pocket that he took out and gave to her. “Anyways I found this and it was a pretty rare find and I—I know that bribery isn’t great for an apology but I wanted you to have this.” Rey unwrapped it to find a bar of chocolate that had miraculously not expired or anything.

Rey couldn’t help herself. She started grinning. “You must’ve really gone out of your way for this,”

“Yeah, I had to uh—tell Nina that she couldn’t have any unless you chose to share.”

“Well,” Rey broke the bar in half, “tell her to come here.” She giggled a little when Nina came barreling around the corner.

“See I told you that she’d let me have some!” Nina said. Rey put her sword to the side and let Nina clamber onto the bed and the two of them ate. Ben smiled as the both of them ate, Nina offering Ben a little bit of her bar.

“No, no. That’s all yours, kiddo.” Nina nodded and then proceeded to devour her piece before smiling, now hopped up on sugar, and saying she was going to play with the other kids. She left.

“Thank you for sharing.” Ben told her.

“Thank you for the apology,” Rey said, “and the chocolate. That was a nice touch.”

“I’m glad that you liked it,”

“I did. So—thanks.” The two of them sat there for a minute, and Rey really wanted to ask Ben why he cared about her. That’s when a large siren started wailing, and all hell broke loose.

__

There was a lot of confusion at first, Ben’s face turned ghost white. Rey grabbed her sword and sheath, and both of them ran. “What’s going on?” Someone said.

“Where’s that coming from?” Someone else asked.

“Nina!” Ben called. Rey could tell that that was his first priority, make sure that Nina was okay.

“Over here!” She called back. They both ran over, it was clear that she was scared.

“Hey,” Ben said, “hey. We’re going to need to find out what’s doing that, so—I need you to do me a favor and stay in here, okay?”

“But—”

“Stay in here.” Rey knelt down next to Nina and put her shoulders on here.

“It’s going to be okay,” Rey told her, she knelt down and took out her pocket knife and gave it to her. “This is my lucky knife and it’ll keep you safe, okay. Don’t use it unless there’s something bad about to happen, okay?”

“Oh—okay.”

“I want you to go to my room, it’s the safest one. Stay there until we get back,”

“Okay, I will.” Rey and Ben started running again.

It was coming from outside, and it was unbearably loud. Loud enough to be heard within a five mile radius, if not more, which was definitely not a good thing. Kaydel and Rose came out too, and a few others. Ben started barking orders about going to each security tower and trying to find where it was coming from. Rey scanned her eyes along the gate and felt a sense of dread start to form in her stomach.

Something about this felt off.

“Everyone that goes to a tower needs back up,” Rey said, before Ben could register it, she started running towards Kaydel who was already at one of the towers. Kaydel was just about to open one of the doors when Rey came bounding towards her. “Stop!” Rey shouted, “Wait.”

“What?”

Rey came past the second partition and got her sword ready, “Open the door now but get behind it until I tell you.”

Kaydel looked at her but then did what she asked, just as she thought, four walkers came out of the tower. Rey saw red.

She couldn’t remember what happened, but all she remembered was hacking through four of them and then telling Kaydel it was okay to come out. “I’m going up there.” Rey said, “I need you to tell Ben that there are probably walkers in the other towers.” More and more walkers were coming to the fence by the minute, some of the others were starting to put up reinforcements towards the gate.

Kaydel ran and Rey ran up to the top of the tower. It wasn’t coming from here. She looked out around the premises, trying to find something that would indicate how those walkers got inside. That’s when she heard a scream, and she barreled back downstairs and to the source of it. One of the girls who had opened it was met with a walker that had clamped down into her arm.

Rey put her sword through it’s head and got it off her. She was still screaming. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m going to need to take your arm off.” She said. Rose was already coming towards the both. “Rose!” Rey called. Rey wiped her sword off as well as she could and said, “I need your belt!”

The girl was crying. “Hey, hey. I’m going to need you to be quiet okay.” Rose was there taking her belt off and Rey gave it to her to bite down on, she was glad that her sword was sharp enough to take the arm off in one fell swoop. The girl nearly passed out.

“We need to move her,” Rose told her, “can you help me move her?”

“Yes,” Rey helped her pick up the girl and take her to a car where they could keep her until they could move her further.

“I’ll take care of her.” Rose said.

Rey nodded and ran back to the towers. The siren was still going. This time more people were coming to the towers to help. There were three more towers to check. Rey wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it seemed like hours.

Rey cut down about twenty more walkers by the time that the alarm was turned off, and they were left with a much bigger problem. Two people died that day, and about three hundred walkers were headed their way.

__

Ben was seeing red. Reinforcements were starting to go up and all Ben could wonder was _How the fuck did this happen?_ When he had been told that two people died, and another girl had only survived because Rey cut off her arm, he wanted to lose it, but he had to keep it together and keep everything up and running. He thought about how there hadn’t been a death in about a year, how they had been doing so well, and now there was this.

They were completely boxed in now, and it wasn’t until afternoon the next day that Ben saw Rey again. He had been working on making sure that the reinforcements were okay and hadn’t seen her at all. Rey was covered in blood and looked exhausted. “Are you okay?” He asked.

Rey nodded, “You should go check on your daughter, I’ll help with whatever reinforcements need to be done.”

“Thank you,” He said, and then he left.

Nina was elated to see him, “Dad!” She ran into him and was crying into him for a minute before she said, “Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt and you didn’t get bit right?”

“Right,” Ben said. Nina hugged him really hard for a minute as they sat in Rey’s room.

“I was scared,”

“It’s going to be okay,” He said, except he didn’t know if it was going to be okay. “It’ll be okay,”

“Is Rey—”

“Rey’s fine,”

“Good. And Rose and Kaydel?”

“They’re okay too,” Ben was still trying to figure out how those walkers could’ve gotten into the towers, and the only explanation is that they were planted, but the thing was Ben couldn’t figure out who would plant them or why.

What was the purpose of all of this?

“You look tired,” Nina said, “you should sleep.”

“I have to get back out there,” He told her, “make sure that everything’s okay. Can you stay here and read for a while?”

“I want to help,”

“Nina, there’s a lot of stuff that’s pretty dangerous and I don’t want you to get hurt. You’re staying here—”

“But—”

“No buts, you’re staying here.” Nina gave him a look and then nodded.

“Okay,” She said in a small voice, Ben went right back outside and told Rose that he needed to gather all of the adults so that they could have a meeting. Rose nodded and said that she’d go around and get everything together. Ben sat in the mess hall.

He had to figure out what he was going to say.

It was going to be a long day.


	10. Chapter 10

Ben was tired. Rey could tell. He had this look in his eyes that Rey had seen before in herself. The one where it was very apparent that all that you wanted to do was lay down and give up. But he wasn’t giving up. He still stood in front of the slightly traumatized members of the community and began to talk.

“So,” Ben began, “there is a lot that we have to address.”

“Yeah no shit,” Someone began. There were murmurs and a lot of questions and it was clear that Ben wasn’t doing well. Rey could see the frustration mounting up in him and before he exploded, she did. She knew that people wouldn’t take it well if Ben lost his cool in front of everyone.

“Hey!” She shouted. Her voice boomed across the mess hall, louder than it had ever been in years. “Everyone needs to quiet down and shut the fuck up! Ben is trying to tell you what’s going on and asking all of your questions at once is only going to make things more confusing! So sit down and wait your turn, your mothers taught you that in Pre-K, right?”

Maybe it was the fact that a lot of people still knew Rey as this shy person that wasn’t going to escalate things that made everyone quiet. But it worked, Ben made eye contact with her and she knew what he wanted to say.

_Thank you._

“Currently, we don’t know a lot about the situation at hand,” Ben admitted, “but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to find out what’s going on.”

“What do you think is going on?” Someone asked him.

“It’s too early to say,” Ben said, “I don’t want to say something and then be wrong, or cause any more fear than what’s going on. But I’m going to need to start sign up sheets, so when we’re doing rounds I know where everyone is at what time, and I’m going to need to set up a team to thin the herd out and take the walkers that are coming our way to a different location. I will talk to the people that I know are capable of that. For now, if you were working outside on repairing the fence or were one of the people helping clear the towers, you should get some rest. The people that weren’t out, I’m going to need you to go to your shifts. If you see anything unusual, tell me. I’m going to prepare a plan.”

Rey knew that Ben was scared. Maybe she was just good at reading emotion like that, because everyone else seemed reassured by his words. The meeting was dispersed and Rey met up with Ben after the mess hall was cleared. “Hey,” He said, “thank you. For getting everyone to shut up.”

“No problem,” Rey grimaced as she looked him up and down, “you look like shit.” She said.

“Yeah,” Ben let out a low and hollow chuckle, “I know.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better,” He admitted, “I have no idea what I’m fucking doing,”

“Don’t let other people hear you say that,” Rey said. “Then shit will really hit the fan,”

“I’m pretty sure people already know,”

“No,” Rey said, “I think that you do a pretty good job of bullshitting it.”

“Really?” Ben said. “Not good enough to fool you though?”

“No,” Rey told him, “you see I think I’ve figured you out. So—sorry that you couldn’t fool me.” They stared into each other’s eyes for a minute. Ben had no idea what he was going to do right now, and Rey could tell that he was panicking.

“Have I shown you the roof yet?” Ben asked.

Rey shook her head no. “Why?”

“You want to go there with me?”

“Sure, I guess.” Rey said. She followed him as he showed her a fire escape staircase that she had never noticed before, and the two of them ended up on the roof. It was a fairly nice day outside, considering everything that was going on around them. She and Ben found a place to sit down and the two of them stayed silent for a very long time.

“I just needed a breath of fresh air,” Ben said.

“With me?”

“I didn’t want to be alone,” He admitted. Rey was silent, because she wasn’t really sure what she was supposed to say in a situation like that. Really, what was she supposed to do? Tell him that she didn’t want to be alone either? Tell him that everything was going to be okay?

When she first came here, she was pretty sure that something like this would happen. Everything was too good to be true. She had no idea if anything would be okay. “Well, you’re not alone.” Rey said. “Not while I’m here,” He gave her this look that she didn’t know how to read. It had been a long time since she had really been kind to other people.

Not like this.

It was scary, to say the least. Her heart was pumping as she thought of what to say next. “We’re going to get through this,” She said, “you know that right?”

“I guess I just keep thinking about Nina,” Ben said, “I want her to be safe.” He looked out at all the walkers around them and sighed. “It’s going to be a death trap going out there.”

“Don’t talk like that,” Rey said, “I’m going out there.”

“I was going to ask you if you’d stay behind with Nina,” Ben said, “just in case I don’t come back. She’s going to need someone that she likes with her.”

“What about Rose or Kaydel?”

“She likes them, yeah.” Ben said. “But she’s never really had that same connection with them that she has with you. So—”

“Nothing is going to happen to you,” Rey told him firmly.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Rey said.

“And who do you know that?”

“Because I’m going to be out there, protecting you.” Rey nudged him. “You’re going to be fine, this colony is going to be safe, and everything is going to work out okay. I know it,”

“You sound so sure of yourself,”

“Yeah, well I think I’ve realized two things that have improved my confidence a lot more.”

“Really, what are the things that you realized?”

“Well,” Rey said, “the first thing I realized is that if I’ve survived this long—there has to be a reason. And the second thing I realized is I think this is the reason.” She gestured generally to everything. “There’s nothing more powerful than having something to fight for.” Ben was so close to her in that moment, and Rey, for a second, could’ve sworn that he was staring at her lips. She got up.

“So what do you say, are you ready to kick some walker’s asses?”

__

It had been ten days since Rey and Ben had gone with some others to clear out all of the walkers. Nina had tried her absolute hardest to be brave. Rose had stayed behind and would do her best to keep her calm and Nina always appreciated that.

Still, she couldn’t help but worry. It was hard for her to sleep correctly. She stayed up despite being exhausted out of her mind. “When do you think that they’ll be back?”

“I don’t know,” Rose admitted.

“How do we know if something went wrong?” Nina was thinking about the knife that Rey had given her. How she had told her that it was lucky.

Would Rey be okay without it?

Would her dad be okay?

On the eleventh day, Nina asked Rose if she could teach her how to kill a walker. At first Rose told her no, said that was something that her father needed to teach her, but it didn’t take very long for her to give in. There were still a lot of walkers around the perimeter. Rose told her that everything would be fine, she would help her and that she would be there.

There were three rules to go for. If there were a lot of walkers near by but they didn’t see you, aim for the head with a knife or something sharp. That would kill them. If there was only one, aim for the head. But if there were more than you could handle, run the other way and realize that you can’t kill them all. Nina helped clear the fence of twenty walkers that day.

On the twelfth day, they came back. Nina watched as people filed in. There were injured, a lot didn’t come back. And then everyone was inside, and she didn’t see Rey. She didn’t see her father either. Her eyes roamed the crowd until she found someone that she knew. Kaydel.

Nina ran up to her. “Kay!” She screamed and hugged her almost immediately. Kaydel was covered in blood and guts and looked so, so sad. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, Nina, I’m okay. I’m okay.”

“Where’s my dad? Where’s Rey?” She asked. Kaydel’s face paled and she shivered.

“Nina, can you go back up to the prison?”

“No! I want to know where my dad is?” Kaydel looked like she was going to throw up as Rose joined them.

“Hey, where’s Ben?”

“I don’t think that Nina should have to hear this,”

“Is he—” Nina asked, her heart felt like it was about to stop.

“No, no. He’s not dead.” Kaydel said. “Stop that, he’s not dead.”

“Then what happened?”

Kaydel took in a shaky breath and then stopped herself, “We were attacked?”

“By walkers?”

“No,” Kaydel said.

“We were attacked by another group of people,”


	11. Chapter 11

Rey woke up in the back of a truck with blood all over her. She groaned and then strained her eyes, to see Ben tied up not far away from her. “Ben.” She said. “Ben, are you okay?” He woke with a start and then strained his eyes to see her.

“Rey?” He asked groggily, “Are you okay?” Every muscle in her body hurt, but that was to be expected after everything that had just happened.

“Yeah.” She lied. “I’m fine. What about you?”

“I think I’m fine,” He admitted, “I just have a headache.” Rey nodded and tried to get more of her surroundings. She was tied but her feet weren’t bound. She crept forward to get closer to Ben, checking him out more as he was barely opening his eyes.

“You might have a concussion,” Rey said, “so don’t sleep okay? Stay awake.”

“Yeah, I know.” He said. “Do you uh—remember what happened? I remember that group coming up, but I don’t remember much else.”

“Yeah,” Rey told him. “We thought it was just a group of bikers that wanted to know where the prison was located, you told them no, obviously and then things got aggressive.” She tried not to relive the memory of how worried she got when their ring leader started beating on Ben. “Some guy was trying to kill you, I took care of it.” If took care of it meant cutting a man’s arm off. “Then the gang started shooting, drew some walkers. You and I stayed behind to hold them off, and then someone with a truck came by and knocked the both of us out. Now we’re here.”

“That’s fuckin’ great,” Ben groaned. “Do you know if any of them followed the rest of our group?”

“No, the walkers were getting too much for them.”

“I guess that’s the plus side of this all,” He shrugged and finally opened his eyes more. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”

“Okay as I’ll ever be,” Rey told him, “I’m more concerned about you.”

“I’ll be fine,” He said, “endured a lot worse. Trust me.”

“Good to know, still I don’t want you dying on me.” She wanted to say that Ben meant a lot to her and she’d rather him not know that. Not at the moment anyway.

“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” He said. “The same goes for you. I don’t want you dyin’ on me. You mean a lot to me, but I’m pretty sure that you already know that.”

“We just need to get out of here,” Rey told him, ignoring what he just said. “And I need my sword back,”

**

“She hasn’t slept in two days,” Rose said as both she and Kaydel watched Nina. She had been using a long poker to clear walkers at the gate with a supervisor the whole time, waiting for Rey and Ben to come back. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried to get her to take a break, go lay down and all that. She always ends up back at the same place.”

“Poor kid,” Kaydel grimaced, “she’s really worried.” Rose could tell that she was feeling guilty about the fact that she got separated from the two of them. Probably blaming herself a little each time she looked out at Ben’s kid. “Do you think they’re okay?” Kaydel asked her.

“I think they’ll be fine. Ben’s survived a lot. Remember Applegate and the CDC?”

“Yeah,” Kaydel said, “that was a lot of bullshit that he had to do with. I’m just—those guys were insane—and I’m worried.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Rose told her, “we’ll set up a team to go out after them when the walkers clear out, but if there’s anyone that would survive and get back here it’s the both of them. Rey’s a badass too, you said as much yourself.”

Kaydel gave her a look that broke Rose’s heart. She could tell that she felt really bad about this. “Kay,”

“What?”

“It’s not your fault, you know that right?”

“Rey saved my life, again. And I couldn’t help her, again.” Kaydel said, “I’m just fucking useless.”

“Kay—” Rose opened her mouth to protest, but Kaydel was already walking back to the prison, crying. She didn’t know what to do.

**

After a four-hour ride, the truck finally stopped. Ben gave Rey a look and Rey went back to where she was, pretending to be way more out of it than she was. She didn’t need to get the shit beat out of her anymore than she had before. They were talking amongst each other in thick southern accents that were way more redneck than any one she was used to, which didn’t really improve her mood at all.

“Get the girl, put her in a separate room. Don’t underestimate her though, she took of Earl’s arm.” One of them picked her up roughly.

“Up and at ‘em, you little bitch.”

Rey went back into that silent mode that she had been in before. She could hear Ben protesting behind them, “Where are you taking her? You better not fucking hurt her!”

“You hear that? Your boyfriend is concerned about you,” She was pushed and nearly tripped over herself, but she didn’t say anything. If Ben knew what was good for him, he would just shut up and let everything run its course. That was the best way to deal with this all. That was how they survived this mess.

Rey decided that if she wasn’t going to be rattled, she had to tune Ben out. She couldn’t save him right now. Or worry about him for that matter. She just let herself get a bag put over her head and dragged somewhere. People were muttering about plans for her and the man and all that, and if they could see her, she was rolling her eyes.

Finally, someone took a bag off her head and sat across the table from her. A red headed man sat opposite of her. He was oddly too clean. “Ah, that’s probably better for you isn’t it?” He asked, in a tone that made her skin crawl. “I’ve heard a lot about you. You killed two of my men and cut off the arms of two others. That’s quite impressive, considering most of them used to be in the military.”

Rey didn’t say anything. “I would usually say that you murdering some of my men means that we’re going to kill you, but I hear that you’re really good with a sword. We could use someone with your skill on our team. You can join us if you tell us your name.”

Rey didn’t say anything.

“Are you mute?”

  
“No,”

“So, you just like being difficult?”

Rey raised an eyebrow. She didn’t say anything. “Ah, difficult it is then.” He put a gun on the table and stared at her for a minute. “I need you to tell me where you and your group is from,” Nothing. “There will be consequences if you don’t.” Nothing. It seemed like this infuriated even more. “If you don’t tell us where you’re located, that man in the next room will die.” It was as if on cue that she heard Ben scream.

Something in her stomach dropped, but she knew that if she told someone she would endanger so many people. “Is that supposed to scare me?” She asked.

“I think you’re already scared,” He said, “that tough girl act doesn’t do the same to me as it does to everyone else. Tell me where your camp is, or your boyfriend loses a hand.”

She bit her tongue for a minute, thinking, and the redheaded man got up, making a move to leave the room. Ben screamed again, and then she could hear someone beating the shit out of him in another room. “Wait.” She said. “I’ll tell you.”

**

Ben had had his fair share of beat downs before. But something about this was different. He kept thinking about Rey, and he couldn’t get the thought that she was hurt out of his head. The person that was beating the crap out of him didn’t say anything to him when he asked, just started to beat the shit out of him as soon as he woke up. And then a red headed man came in the room and told him to stop. The man did and the two of them exchanged hushed words.

Finally, the man that was beating the shit out of him left, and the red headed man sat down across the table from him. “Well.” He said. “Something tells me that you’re going to be more helpful than your bitch girlfriend in the next room.”

Ben bristled at that. He didn’t say anything. “Oh, relax. Nothing happened.” He grinned. “I just wanted to have a friendly conversation, that’s it. And you know what she told me? Nothing.”

“What did you do to her?”

“Did you not hear me?” The red headed man raised his voice, “Is that concussion of yours impeding your brain functions? I didn’t do anything to her. I asked her what her name was. What your name was. Where you were located and how many people were in your group? Who was your leader? She didn’t tell me shit; you know what she did do?”

“Told you to fuck off?” Ben snorted.

“Close. She spat at me, right after I told her I was going to come in here and cut off your hand if she didn’t tell me where you guys were located. If I were you, I think I’d be offended that she would let you lose a hand like that.”

Ben chuckled, and the redheaded man stared at him like he was about to have a stroke. “You think this is funny?”

“Sure,” He said, “you thought you were really going to get something out of her? Really? How fucking stupid do you have to be?”

“What’s your name?”

“Why?”

“Because I think we should be on a name to name basis if I’m going to kill you,” The redhead said. Ben swallowed.

“Oh, well I’m good you have morals.” Ben said. “I’m Ben, I would say nice to meet you, but you had someone beat the shit out of me, so you’ll have to forgive me for that.”

“You’ll have to forgive me; you might be a threat. You guys could be cannibals for all I know, Ben.”

“In all fairness, you guys could be cannibals too.” Ben shrugged. “But if you’re worried about that, we’re not cannibals.”

This conversation was pointless, but he much preferred it to getting the shit beaten out of him. “Where are you guys located?”

“She didn’t tell you that?” Ben asked.

“No,” He said, “again, she spat in my face. If you tell me where you’re located, I’ll do you a favor and I won’t kill her.”

“How generous,” Ben said, “we’re located in a prison.”

“Where?”

“Why does it matter?” Ben asked, cocking his head to the side. “It’s several days away from here by foot, but I have no fuckin’ clue where we are so I can’t tell you how to get there.”

“You really like being as difficult as that bitch in the other room, don’t you?”

“Watch your fuckin’ language, prick.”

The redhead man threw his head back in a low chuckle, “You’re pretty funny. You know that, Ben?” He got up to go to the door and knocked on it, and then the man that had been beating the shit out of him before came in, but he was holding something on a leash. “I think I’ll be pretty sad when you die.” The walker was loosely tied to a pole and then the redhead said, “Au revoir, Ben. I wish you the best of luck.” The door shut behind them and the walker jolted, it’s hand coming off the rope and coming straight for him.

**

Nina knew that no one was going to let her go save her father and Rey, which is why she didn’t attend the meeting where Rose was going to set up a rescue team to go and save them. Instead she spent her time at the wall, clearing walkers. Every once and a while, one of the mothers would say that she needed to eat, or she needed to go to sleep and take a nap at least.

She tried, mainly because she knew that other people were worried about her. But every time she tried to, she had nightmares of her father dying. Of Rey dying. Of her having no one and then ending up somewhere, cold and alone.

So she ended up back in the same spot, killing walkers and waiting for them to come back. If she was being honest, she was getting to the point where she was going to jump over the fence and make a run for it herself. She wanted her dad back so bad. The thought of losing him scared her more than anything.

She knew that she wouldn’t really make a difference in trying to find them though. She didn’t know how to scavenge or hunt, she couldn’t track, and she didn’t know how to fight, and she wasn’t strong. So all she could do was wait for the adults to decide to go and find them.

Or for them to come back.

She just wanted them to come back.

**

Rey broke out of her restraints when she heard a walker start going after Ben. She heard a lot of crashing around and suddenly she was terrified. She needed to find a way to get out of this. She needed to help Ben. If Ben was still alive. She felt like she was going to throw up, thinking about the possibility of Ben being dead and her having to go back to the prison and tell his daughter that he wasn’t coming home. The possibility of never telling Ben that she cared about him was scratching at her brain as she asked herself why she hadn’t just said anything earlier.

She pushed the feeling down and did something stupid. She yelled.

It didn’t take long for someone to come in the room. Not the red head from before but someone entirely different, “Hey.” She said, “I have the coordinates to our hideout if you want. I’ll even tell you where I stashed some guns. You want that?”

The man came forward, not completely closing the door behind him. “Tell me more.” He said.

He came a little bit closer and then Rey got up, using her chair to bludgeon the man in the face. Luckily, he dropped to the round rather quickly, and Rey took his gun and the knife he had. She put it through his head without a second thought. One more second of rifling and she found his extra ammo.

Rey had to get moving, had to find Ben.

She moved down the hallway a little bit to find the next room, she opened it not sure what she’d see. What she got was Ben leaning against the wall, looking a little bit dazed and like shit. The walker that she had heard before was dead and it looked like he had used the interrogation table to kill it. “Ben,” She hissed. He looked up with some shock and he squinted.

“Rey?”

Without another thought, Rey moved forward and kissed him. She didn’t really think about the consequences or what would happen after she did, she just did it. He had this look in his eyes when she pulled back that scared the shit out of her. She swooped her arm under him without another word, “Can you walk?” She asked him.

“Yeah,” He said, “yeah. I can walk.”

“We’re getting out of here,” Rey said, “come on.”

“How did you get out?”

“I killed the guard and took his gun,”

“Damn,” He said, “you’re a bad ass.” He coughed a little and winced.

“You didn’t get bit, did you?”

“No,” He shook his head, “No. I’m fine. Ribs might be bruised though,”

“We’ll deal with that when we can. I want to get my sword back,”

“Do you even know where it is?”

“No, but I’ll find it.”

“We need to get out of here first, I don’t want you doing anything that’ll get you killed.”

“I won’t get killed,” She said, “it’s you that I’m worried about though. Getting the shit beat out of you like that.”

Ben chuckled a little and she helped him out of the room, the two of them slowly creeping closer to the exit. Rey held the gun in one hand and supported Ben in the other. She knew that it would be harder to be stealthy when she had Ben in such bad shape with her.

She had to time this out just right.

That’s when she rounded the corner and was met with Kaydel and some of the others. “Rey! Ben! You’re okay.” Kaydel said. She grinned and Rey laughed.

“Yeah, we are. What are you guys doing here?”

“We came to save you,”

“Aw,” Rey said, “well thanks.” Someone helped support Ben and Rey let him go. “Let’s get going,” She said, we need to go.”

“Yeah, you can say that again.” Kaydel said. “Let’s get going. I’ve got your back,”

“Actually, I need you to get Ben out of here.” Rey told the group.

“Rey,” Ben already knew what Rey was about to say, “you’re coming back with us.”

“I want my sword back, and the other weapons that they stole from us. Plus, I want to know why they have blockades blocking the road.”

“You need someone to go with you,” Kaydel told her.

“It’s more important that you get Ben the fuck out of here, I’ll be fine. Now go,”

“Rey, no—”

“Ben, I’ll be fine. I’ll meet you back at the prison. You need to get back to your daughter. You’re not arguing with me.” Without a second word, she left them to go find her sword.


End file.
